"SPRING"ING AHEAD... Better days? (Part 170p)

“SPRING”ING AHEAD… Better days? (Part 170p)

Elle liked to be in bed by 10pm whenever she was teaching. She took Paula upstairs to get her squared away with part of that being bathroom protocol in the morning leaving me to watch TV. With four people needing to get ready time was always a bit ’tight’ but, now with five, it was going to be tighter. I left it up to Elle to orchestrate how it would work. I don’t know how long it was before I saw Paula approaching through the darkened living room. As she got to the entryway to the den she stopped. I could see a towel and pajamas over one arm. With her incontinence Elle never wore them but kept them anyway as my mother had given them to her. Paula stopped to say that she was going take her shower to save time in the morning. I didn’t know if it was Elle’s idea or Paula’s but I knew it would certainly help. Before she left I warned her about the steam build up in the tiny room and suggested that she leave the towel and pajamas just outside the door to keep them dry. I skipped the part about ‘cracking’ the window because of the location of it right behind the toilet and her height. I knew she’d never be able to get it open. She thanked me and said she’d see me in the morning.

With Paula in the shower I heard Elle call me from the top of the stairs to say she would leave a night light on in the upstairs bathroom. I wondered why she did that as I would’ve seen it on my own. Returning to the den I saw two piles of clothes in the hall just outside the bathroom. Normally, I would’ve returned to the den through the living room but couldn’t help myself and walked down the hall. I could hear the water running in the shower as I stopped to look at what was on the floor. One of the two piles was the clothes she’d been wearing… and right on top was something small and dark that had my attention as soon as I saw it. Emboldened by the sound of the water I bent down and picked it up. Soft and pliable, I was sure it was nylon… and probably panties but the dark color was puzzling There was no direct light in the hall and the kitchen lights were off so to get a better look I took it into the den. As soon as I made the turn I stretched them out. It was a pair of chocolate brown bikini panties. I’d never seen panties of any kind in that color so took a look at the label. J C Penney, size 4. I quickly put them back and retreated to my recliner, feigning sleep. I heard the bathroom door open and close a couple of times so felt comfortable in getting up after hearing the second one. I did go in and ‘crack’ the bathroom window to get rid of the steam before heading up to bed. As I did I was still thinking of Paula’s brown panties.

The morning, as expected, was a bit chaotic. Looking at Paula I kept envisioning her in those brown bikinis. When she, Elle and Kaye went out the door headed for school I wondered if I’d ever see her again. But, I had more important things to focus on while driving to work. The most important was the on going audit examination at the bank and just what the new guy from the Federal authorities would be like. In the background of my mind was Paula and how Lynda had made out in picking her up at the hospital. I knew the first thing I had to do was to meet with the new guy and to find out what his plan going forward was to be. I also knew that it would be a while before I’d get a chance to catch up with Lynda. Mike, the messenger/custodian was at the door, as usual, to let the employees in and when I passed by I asked if he knew if the new examiner had arrived. When he smiled back at me I knew the answer. I’d only made it halfway across the lobby when I saw Hobie headed for the elevator. I called to him and he waved me to follow him into it. I still had my overcoat and briefcase but he insisted that I accompany him anyway. Inside, he gave me a warning and that was for me to keep my mouth shut and not to do anything to raise the guy’s ire. I was able to ask Hobie if he knew anything about the guy. All I got was an affirmative shake of his head and a frown… not a good sign.

The meeting was held in the board room. I saw all our key people there as well as the woman in charge of the State examination. The man introduced himself and I detected a slight accent. He didn’t speak for long and when he was finished we all knew who was in charge. He wanted a private office to operate out of and the only space was J J’s office. When Hobie told him to get all of his necessary things together and to move to the office that Bob, the appraiser, occupied, I thought he would choke. Another whose ‘look’ was worth noting was the woman in charge of the State examiners. I actually remember feeling somewhat sorry for her as she was being relegated to second or maybe even third in command. As we were excused I wondered what the rest of the examination period would be like. Another concern was that no sooner would all the auditors be gone and we’d be into the ‘busy period’. Thankfully, we had no special promotions planned. It was going to be a daunting few weeks.

Before calling Lynda I had a meeting with Bret, Trish and Lorie to get them ‘up to speed’ as to what to expect from the auditors for the next few days. Then… I called Lynda. My blood pressure was still a bit high as I waited for her to answer. I got the feeling that she was really busy when she did but when she realized it was me I could hear her breath a sigh of relief. I told her all I needed to know was if Ruthe was settled in. I remember her giving off a half-hearted laugh when she answers “sort of” and then said she’d call later. The total time I was on the phone was probably less than two minutes. But, I was so engrossed that I hadn’t noticed J J walk up to my desk. When I saw him he looked like he was about to explode. His face was flushed red and when he started to speak I could hear his voice shaking a bit. I really did like J J but, at least at work, he annoyed me. I had actually enjoyed watching him get kicked down a notch and it was ironic that he’d come to me looking for sympathy. The one thing that stands out was him standing there pleading. “Can you believe that?”.

Later, Hobie called me into his area and gave me some insight as to the new Federal examiners. Being told to come to our bank was like a “slap in the face” to him as he was used to dealing with banks much, much larger. Hearing it made sense of an observation by Bret that all the examiners he’d had to deal with seemed “up tight”. It was then that I told him about J J’s situation. That brought out a smile. Once the doors were closed to the public I took a walk around the work area to see how the people from the State were making out after having been moved. The lady in charge had re-grouped from the morning meeting and was very cordial. Not wanting to upset her about the change I took a different approach and asked if there was anything I could get for her or her crew. With both of us more at ease I took the time to take a good look at her. Of course I was remembering the peek of white I’d gleaned the previous day but recognized it would take a stroke of luck to reprise it in the coming days. But, as they say, ‘Hope springs eternal…’

To be continued…